Royals Survive

Douglas Royals 2
VIU Mariners 1

Under gorgeous sunshine the Douglas Royals women’s soccer team punched their ticket to the PACWEST gold medal game with a 2-1 victory over the VIU Mariners on Saturday afternoon.

The Royals struck first on a beautiful corner kick from Jessica Lau that Hannah dela Cruz buried to give the second seeded Royals a 1-0 lead in the 14^th minute.  Other than a couple of minutes of pressure by the Mariners, the Royals dictated the play and kept the ball in their offensive end for a good chunk of the half and carried their lead into the break.

In the early stages of the second half, both teams came out with excellent pressure and had their chances.  Mariners’ keeper Melanie Osborne had to be sharp making a couple of saves, then striker Kate Reynolds blasted a shot high over the net, past an outstretched Elisha Machado.

The Royals extended their lead after an incredible one on one rush by All-Star Jessica Parks who got free and whistled a shot past Osborne in the 47^th minute.

From there the Royals kept the pressure on and controlled the ball for most of the second half.  The Mariners finally did find a few opportunities with time winding down, then in the 89^th minute rookie Cassandra Hartwich scored on a shot from the top of the box, cutting the lead in half.

After the goal the Mariners continued to press, however it was too little too late as the final whistle sounded.

The Royals will now face the top seeded Capilano Blues in the women’s PACWEST gold medal game on Sunday at 12:30pm with the winner advancing to the CCAA national championship.  The last time they faced each other in the title game was in 2017 that the Royals won.  That was also the last time the Royals won gold while the Blues haven’t won PACWEST gold since 2007.

Players of the Game:

VIU Mariners – Larissa Stefanek
Douglas Royals – Elisha Machado